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French

The French language

• is spoken widely in 54 countries, which are termed "Francophone" countries or "La Francophonie".
• is spoken fluently by over 113 million people (as a native or adopted language).
• is spoken occasionally by a further 61 million people living in Francophone countries; and it is also spoken to a conversational standard by over 100 million people from outside a Francophone country.
• is only one of two languages spoken as a native language on five continents (the other language is English).
• is the second most commonly-taught second language in the world (after English).
• is one of the official working languages in many key international organisations, for example, the EU, the International Olympic Committee, NATO, the OECD, Red Cross, the UN, the World Health Organisation and others.

Francophone countries account for around 10% of the world's population, 18% of international trade flows and 12% of global production.

French, with its long and influential literary and cultural history, has contributed many words and phrases to the English language - for example, hors d'oeuvre, en route, raison d'être, rendezvous, and R.S.V.P.

French is therefore an extremely important international language!

This article was added on 2007-07-10

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